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Recently a really interesting research report was published that presented several rather amazing findings.

The researchers forced dopamine-producing cells in a rodent brain to start making a protein called neuromelanin and by doing this, they witnessed the occurence of Parkinson’s-like features (motor issues, Lewy body-like structures, and cell death).

The report also suggested a method by which this outcome could be reduced or rescued.

But the amazing part is that neuromelanin was previously considered to be protective and this new finding suggests we may need to rethink that idea.

In today’s post, we will discuss what neuromelanin is, what this new report found, and how this new knowledge could be useful in the context of Parkinson’s.

Many years ago, he sat down and examined hundreds of postmortem brains from people with Parkinson’s.

He had collected brains from people who passed away at different stages of the condition, and was looking for any kind of pattern that might explain where and how the disease starts. His research led to what is referred to as the “Braak staging” model of Parkinson’s – a six step explanation of how the condition spreads up from the brain stem (the top of the spinal cord) and into the rest of the brain (Click here and here to read more about this).

Braak found that certain populations of cells in the brain were more vulnerable to Parkinson’s than others, such as the dopamine neurons in a region called the substantia nigra, the noradrenergic neurons of the locus coeruleus, and the neurons of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (don’t worry about what any of those names actually mean, I’m just trying to sound smart and make you think that I know what I’m taking about).

One feature that all of these populations of neurons all share in common – in addition to vulnerability to Parkinson’s – is the production of pigment called neuromelanin.